If you haven't heard, The Hunger Games premiered in the US on Friday, March 23rd. It is a film based on the book by Suzanne Collins. She wrote the screen play and it was directed by Gary Ross. I'd like to say it was a mix of a lot of other films/books like Battle Royale and 1984 but you be the judge...
There are a bit of spoilers in this diary. I am going to try to leave enough holes in my diary so that I don't completely ruin it for you. You should go out, see it, come back leave me a comment and tell me what you think. I'm only going to explain a couple scenes and go draw conclusions about the symbolism and parallels from the film to our daily fight with the GOP.
Entlord was on to me:
Trying to extrapolate any real world present day parallels to what this appears to be would appear to be a mental exercise best left to college sophomores and 2 kegs of Mexican beer to argue about after midnight in the dorm
Teehee. (Puts down can of Tecate and flicks the eye-boogers off of my face).
Confession: I haven't read the books. I know, I know, I felt awful. I was in the group of kids who read Harry Potter and grew up with those characters. I would never attend a movie like this without reading the book but based on what I hear from other people this may have been a good thing.
The main character Katniss Everdeen is introduced as a girl in her teens caring for her younger sister Prim. Prim awakes from a nightmare that she "put her name in and could possibly get picked for The Hunger Games". At this point in the movie, it was unclear what these games were and why children were entered into this "lottery" called a Reaping. She leaves her home temporarily and heads out toward a fence with a sign reading DISTRICT 12. She finds her way through the fence and is surrounded by a lush forest. As someone ignorant to the back story, I thought this was interesting. A beautiful span of green hiding the delicacies of food, barred from District 12 citizens. Turn back the clock to 2012. Global Warming is a hoax. Environmentalists are hippies. Sustainability is for those who must sustain themselves, but we shouldn't be required to do the same. In this futuristic time it is obvious that these people are starving. Katniss is in the barred area to look for food. The director shoots beautiful scenes of starting elders and hardened faces. The War on a Greener America is often overlooked, but it exists and is the rhetoric is getting stronger day by day. The Keystone Pipeline has most of us on this website up in arms, however the general public only hears cries of lower gas prices despite the location of the pipeline and the danger to those communities. The message is clear: use use use no matter what the cost. In the film, there were other reasons that these people were starving, but what if they knew how to harvest? How many know how to hunt? What is the Government's role in food security? These are things that one side of the aisle has consistently said doesn't matter.
Next up, we fast forward to a scene of Prim and Katniss getting their fingers pricked with needles standing in phalanx formation with other District 12 kids. Effie, a freakishly dressed character addresses the group by megaphone "May the odds be ever in your favor". This is a line repeated by several characters throughout the film. She then plays a film of the nation's history. The Nation, Panem faced revolt and as a "tribute" to the graciousness of the nation, one boy and one girl from each district was picked to go against 22 others in a game of fight to the death. Prim is picked to go to the Hunger Games however, Katniss volunteers for her. She and another boy, Peeta are picked to represent District 12 in the Hunger Games. Fight for your country, it has bestowed honors given only to you. You should be thankful and work your hardest everyday. "May the odds be ever in your favor". Patriotism. How often have we heard these lines from politicians making grand overtures to us. Chants of USA, USA, USA are used to remove two men kissing from a rally. Chants of USA, USA, USA are deafening in the wake of the death of an enemy. I am patrotic, but not a nationalist. I believe that there is a clear difference between the two. I have actually lived the American Dream and can attest to it's existance, however I can't help but look around and ask why my fellow Americans are starving, working 2-3 jobs to pay their bills, homeless, starving. Shall we chant for the greatness of our nation above all us in the face of these atrocities? That is what we see in the political arena today. Watch tonight for Santorum's victory speech. A Noun, a verb, America is awesome, __insert group of government "Welfare Queens", and finish with cuddling a giant American Flag. I do not believe in making excuses for something based on blind allegiance. That is an insult to what this nation was founded on, and an insult to our intelligence. The Hunger Games use of the words YOUR FAVOR is just a play into false hope. Nothing is in these people's favor. They are living in a dystopian time, with a dystopian government. The only thing the citizens of Panem have is their favor, which the government quickly tries to take away at a young age.
I think these clip is beautiful and true. Donald Sutherland as President Snow was excellent. Think back to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. I was almost old enough to vote, but not quite (thanks mom and dad)--but I remember the feeling of of a wave of relief sweeping over my family and friends. We finally had hope. We had hope that things would turn around and that this man would give us what we had yearned for, for 8 years. Nearly 4 years later, many of DailyKos have lost hope. I believe it was just as President Snow said a case of, "a lot of hope is dangerous." I have the feeling that many of us fell hard for President Obama and when he didn't live up to our expectations we turned on him.
Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. The GOP is banking on fear this year. Fear of this man getting another 4 years and completing his Socialist Agenda. Fear of not recognizing the country for what it was before. Fear of facing the truth of his accomplishments.
Fast Forward to the Hunger Games. Each person from the tribute has to essentially perform in front of a group of "sponsors" that can give them goodies during the games such as medicine and matches. Katniss walks in, says her name, and readies her bow and arrow at the target across the room. While of group of sponsors (all male, BTW) watches her, she shoots and misses. They laugh and turn their attention towards their heaps of food and wine. To get their attention she aims at an apple that was in the mouth of a roasted pig that was sitting on the table near the distracted sponsors. She shoots is perfectly and garners their attention. They go silent in shock and she arrogantly bows and says, "Thanks for the consideration." The sponsors are giddy with glee because many of them would sponsor someone who could entertain their audience.
At the beginning of the game, a countdown begins. All 24 tributes get ready to head for a weapon to kill their opponents with. The game begins and Katniss outsmarts the "powers that be". Instead for heading towards the heap of weapons she runs to get supplies and runs for shelter. Throughout the game she shows humanity to other players and doesn't kill just to kill. Bringing me to the most obvious parallel between the Hunger Games and Occupy Wall Street. These sponsors, President Snow, and rapid audience want a show, so Katniss gave it to them, but on her terms. They tried to change the rules and she called their bluff. She gained the trust of people in other districts. It was a sci-fi version of the 99% vs. the 1%. The 1% had the opulence and abundence of food while the 99% had nothing, yet they had to work and provide goods for the 1%. Katniss is able to tap into people's sensibilities and get on her side. She put use to the words, "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything". We must do the same if we are to prevail.
A lot of good stuff happens so I'm going to leave out the good meat. If you read this and haven't seen the movie yet, go see it!!! If you have seen it, leave a comment...or else prepare to be punished in the most heinous way, CYBER TICKLING!